White Elephant - Codice criminale

Okay, Michael Rooker is a character actor who you know and love but for love nor money do you know his name?

This is an odd film - if not for Willis and Malcovich, it would be a B movie, but it's a good one - IMHO.

LOTS of bad guys! Tons of shoot 'em ups. No car chases.

The elephant in the room is Bruce Willis. Yes, this isn't his best, but he's still Bruce freaking Willis! I'm betting John Malcovich came along for the ride to be with his buddy Bruce. That's what friends do.

This is not Emmy or Globe material, but it's a fun movie to help pass a rainy afternoon or dull evening. Enjoy it for what it is.

This is not just another B-movie. And it aint another Bruce Willis flop either. Seriously. I have been watching ALL of Bruce Willis' movies lately and this one is actually not too bad. Not great either...but enjoyable enough for the Bruce Willis fans.

Director Jesse V Johnson has proven to be able to make lots of solid, tough and enjoyable B-movies throughout the last years and this is another decent one.

Excellent acting performance by Michael Rooker, who performs a leading role (baddie AND good guy in one), sharing a leading credit with Olga Kurlyenko, who is a highly skilled soldier.

The story: Bruce Willis is a mobster boss who orders a cop (Olga Kurylenko) to be killed. All hell breaks loose after that, WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF SHOOTOUTS.

This movie stands a bit out (in a good way) from other B-movies, because of the attention for detail, with good photography, a decent soundtrack and a story about family bonds.

Any bad? It it a bit slow now and then. And there are some credibility issues in the story and direction. But I am nitpicking, because in the end this is simply a mindless action B-movie, with great actors starring in it. It'll do...

At an important end note: This is one of Bruce Willis' LAST movies he will EVER make, because Bruce is retiring from acting, due to severe bad health, because he is suffering from a neurological disease which affects his speech and facial expressions. Really tragic!

Let us not forget WHY we are watching Bruce Willis movies to begin with. We watch Bruce Willis movies because of DIE HARD (1988). THE ONE AND ONLY BIGGEST ACTION AMERICAN ACTION CLASSIC OF THE CENTURY.

This classic is still standing strong after more than 30 years. Millions of people still REwatch it during every Christmas holiday. Recently a petition was launched to rename Nakatomi Plaza into DIE HARD plaza.

A life time achievement award for Bruce Willis is in the making as well, so I have heard...

DIE HARD (1988) NEVER DIES but is still ALIVE AND KICKING in 2022.

Let's celebrate that...

The villains in this movie are the dumbest ones ever. They act so stupid that it's impossible for them to survive till that age in their own movie realm. I don't know how and why people give green light to such movies. It's one of those 'traps' with 'Bruce Willis' and 'John Malkovich' written with caps to lure innocent film freaks.

But when you have sub-par writers and director, even the all star casting of John Malkovich and Michael Rooker couldn't save this film. It was your typical inane B film with a cliched story and nonsense constant gun fights. Stuntman turned seasoned writer and director Jesse Johnson gave us a typical bad B production with annoyingly loud and unfitting typical B film score, a lazy script (jointly written by three writers) and terrible directing. Even casting Olga Kurylenko as the tough-gal was cringe and unconvincing, and I'm sure part of that blame falls on Johnson's failure to direct his cast properly. You can tell this is the film where Willis started having health issues, but a good director could've easily hidden that. It's an ok one time watch, especially if you're a fan of the leads. It's a generous 6/10 from me, mostly for Rooker's outstanding performance and Malkovich's small but welcoming contribution.

I suspect this was actually written by a 12-year-old and some of his buddies. It was comically bad from the start. I never saw so many people get wasted while standing around jabbering with someone with a gun while they themselves had guns hanging at their sides as if they had no idea what was about to happen. And then there were the gunfights in the middle of the night in residential areas that apparently had been evacuated.

You never really know what the motivation is for any of it, and poor Bruce Willis is so stiff it's sad to see. I guess they got him for the name recognition, but they could have used literally any older actor for his part - or merely grabbed someone off the street and fed him lines the way they likely fed them to Bruce.

Malkovich has become one of those actors whose movies you want to avoid, as I haven't seen him in anything good for some time, and he pretty much plays the same part in all of his later films. Olga K. Is also an actress who, while nice to look at, typically only plays in dogs.

But I did give this a four because I think it has some entertainment value as a comedy, as I was laughing out loud through parts, and it definitely isn't short on action. It's nothing more than a time waster, but I've wasted time watching worse.